How nice of them to arrange a holiday for my birthday. Hawaii is celebrating Admissions Day. And while we were somewhat unprepared to celebrate our anniversary on Wednesday, I’m drawing a total blank on how to celebrate the Big 6-0.

Dateline NBC this week featured the case of Hank Jacinto and John Elwin, the Kauai man who went missing after traveling to the Philippines with Jacinto, who has since been convicted of fraud and identity theft in the case. The broadcast included video of Century Center, the Honolulu condo where I am currently serving as the owners’ association president, described by Dateline as Jacinto’s “U.S. corporate headquarters”.

Actually, Jacinto rented a mail drop mail box at a commercial mailbox business in a streetfront corner of the building. No corporation, no headquarters. I think I’ll take a stab at leaving a Google News comment to this effect. That might be interesting.

The state’s move to seek competitive proposals for the first time in nearly twenty years for the contracts to provide public access television services has been at least temporarily stopped in its tracks by protests from the two largest existing access organizations, Olelo in Honolulu and Akaku on Maui. I have a story explaining the situation in the current Honolulu Weekly.

I see that Hawaii’s Sen. Dan Inouye is traveling in Alaska with Sen. Ted Stevens for several days. He is encouraging Alaskans to support Stevens, who is under scrutiny by the FBI for his dealings with a company that landed some large government contracts, apparently with the help of some behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing.

“I find it very difficult when I see some of the media people treating Ted the way they have done so far. He has stood with you, he has stood with Alaska; I hope Alaskans stand with him,” Inouye said.

We’ve got our own little window into the mortgage crisis with the house next door. It’s currently for sale after the owner, who bought it on spec hoping to turn it around in that rising market of a couple of years ago, started getting ground up by rising monthly payments as interest rates have crept highter. He owns at least one other property he has been fixing up, hoping to flip one or the other house for a nice profit, but the rising monthly payments have put him in a credit squeeze and he’s trying to unload the house next door. But if that market is evaporating, due to lack of financing, he has some very difficult times ahead. We’re just watching and learning.

This morning’s Friday Feline is Ms. Kili, in a photo taken during a walk through the house yesterday. She’s been coming to terms with Ms. Kitten, but still not too keen on hanging around in close quarters with the newcomer. I think Kili ate a rat here in the house earlier this week. We were unaware of the incident until Meda found a small fragment of evidence next to the chair where she watches television. I won’t describe it here. Suffice to say there wasn’t much of the rat left. There’s been a stream of small creatures brought back to the house since the kitten appeared, and I’m inclined to think it’s not simply coincidental.

Oh, note the glass balls in the background of Kili’s photo, all found during our walks on the beach here in Kaaawa.